US sanctions transnational network recruiting Colombians to fight in Sudan’s war
The measures block the entry into the country of all those sanctioned, freeze their assets under U.S. jurisdiction and prohibit any financial or material support to these companies or their directors.
Images of public workers in the Sudan conflict (File).
The Treasury Department announced Tuesday that it imposed sanctions on a transnational network that it said recruits former Colombian military personnel - and even children - to fight alongside paramilitaries in the civil war in Sudan.
The Sudanese war, which began in April 2023, pits the country's army and the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF) against each other. The conflict has left thousands dead and millions displaced, making it the "worst humanitarian crisis" in the world, according to the United Nations.
Last month, Sudanese army chief General Abdel Fatah al Burhan called on President Donald Trump to intervene to end the civil war, but attempts to negotiate have repeatedly failed since the fighting began.
As the U.S. Treasury Department reported, the sanctions announced Tuesday fall on four individuals and four entities. The measures target an international network that "recruits former Colombian military personnel and trains soldiers, including children," to fight in the ranks of the RFS, the agency said in a statement.
"The RSF has shown again and again that it is willing to target civilians - including infants and young children," said Treasury Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence John Hurley, as quoted in the official notice.
Who has been sanctioned?
In Colombia, his main recruitment platform is the Agencia de Servicios Internacionales (A4SI), based in Bogota, which offers positions such as drone operators, snipers and translators through its website, chats and informal meetings. The company is managed by Quijano's wife, Claudia Viviana Oliveros Forero - also sanctioned.
To reduce its legal exposure, A4SI uses Global Staffing SA (now Talent Bridge, SA), based in Panama, which signs contracts and receives payments on its behalf. However, the two companies are closely linked: their websites are identical and Oliveros held senior positions at Global Staffing until recently.
Another key player is Maine Global Corp, an employment agency in Bogotá run by Mateo Andrés Duque Botero, who manages companies in Colombia, the U.S. and the U.K. Maine Global manages and distributes funds for Global Staffing and the hiring company, including payroll and foreign exchange. In 2024 and 2025, U.S. companies linked to Duque made transfers of millions of dollars to Maine Global, Global Staffing and the firm that hired the Colombians.
Finally, Mónica Muñoz Ucros, alternate manager of Maine Global Corp and manager of Comercializadora San Bendito, also figures in these financial operations through transfers with a U.S. company associated with Duque and with Duque himself.
The sanctions
The measures block the entry into the United States of all those sanctioned, freeze their assets under U.S. jurisdiction and prohibit any financial or material support to these companies or their managers.
In addition, any entity that is owned, directly or indirectly, individually or jointly, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons is also blocked, the statement warned.
"The civil war in Sudan risks destabilizing the region and making the country a safe haven for those who threaten the United States," the Treasury said.
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In January, the State Department claimed that members of the RFS had committed genocide.
"Since the beginning of the conflict in April 2023, the RSF and its allied militias have repeatedly targeted civilians, systematically killing men and boys - even infants - and deliberately assaulting women and girls through rape and other forms of sexual violence," the statement added.
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